Articles by Jim Pedley

It amazes me how many sports fans and media have what seem to be super human powers of recollection. They remember in astonishing detail what happened to which driver in races that occurred decades ago.
They’ll sit around bottle-strewn tables at restaurants and bistros, or huddle in small groups in infield press centers and debate the […]

By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com
As with all voting processes for MVPs or players of the year or largest balls of string, the criteria used for voting for the Driver of the Year Award are kind of hazy.
And, human nature being what it is, things like personal experiences and living history and away-from-track persona can […]

Thursday, Dec 16, 2010  11:10 | Comments Off on Ganassi On The Grow in IZOD IndyCar Series

By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com
Chip Ganassi announced Thursday that he is doubling his efforts in the IZOD IndyCar Series.
Ganassi, who already fields cars for Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon – both of whom have won two series championships and the Indianapolis 500 for Target Chip Ganassi Racing – will add two more cars for […]

By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com
NASCAR drivers testing the new asphalt at Daytona International Speedway gave it the thumbs up on Wednesday and Thursday.
Good grip and great prospects for good racing in February’s 500 was the consensus.
“I think it’s going to be a hell of a race,” Richard Childress Racing driver Jeff Burton said Thursday. […]

Wednesday, Dec 15, 2010  7:57 | Comments Off on Hildebrand Is Called Up By The National Guard

By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com
As if there wasn’t already enough going through J.R. Hildebrand’s mind as he passed into the infield at Phoenix International Raceway last week. The 22-year-old open-wheel driver from California had to be greeted with this:
A track worker was using a shovel to remove wind-blown desert sand from the already slippery […]

Think the No. 48 team isn’t serious about making it six straight Sprint Cup championships?
Crew chief Chad Knaus already has the band back together. Last Monday and Tuesday, he had his team at some track somewhere to start prepping for next year. That’s right, testing for 2011 just three days after being honored as 2010 […]

The repaving is finished at Daytona International Speedway and the testing of the new surface is about to begin.
DIS officials said Tuesday that at least 18 NASCAR drivers will be on the track for next week’s (Wednesday and Thursday) test session.
The test is officially being call a tire test and it is being conducted by […]

By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToda.com
As Champions Week in Las Vegas built to its annual exercise in awkwardness – the season-ending banquet – the last couple days, I began to wonder about about Feb. 20, 2011.
I began to wonder what will happen when Jimmie Johnson steps onto the front-straight stage at Daytona International Speedway for […]

By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com
The Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series is billing this week’s two-day open test at Homestead-Miami Speedway as the final event of the 2010 season.
In reality, the test should probably be viewed as the start of the 2011 season. But few were quibbling about anything as silly as labels on Wednesday, […]

By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com
As a sports fan, I have this frustrating tendency to be continually disappointed. The reason is, I simply cannot view teams and athletes as merely teams and athletes. I can’t separate what they do from whom they are.
For example, Cam Newton. Evidence seems to point to the fact that he […]